Waste spill no hog heaven

Published: Thursday, March 21, 2013 at 10:32 PM.

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“These facilities have a greater management challenge in the wintertime,” Massengale said. Those challenges include more rain and fewer plants and, therefore, fewer opportunities for spraying the effluent, or waste, over approved fields.

On Feb. 6, Britt wrote David May, aquifer protection regional supervisor with the Division, a plan of action the farm carried out, including spraying cover and wheat crops andtaking water conservation measures.

“The high freeboard level in the lagoon at the Stantonsburg Farm was the result of above average rainfall in the month of December,” Britt wrote in the letter.

He stated rainfall was 7.65 inches from mid-December to mid-January, compared to 1 inch during the same time frame a year ago.

“This influx of rain resulted in the freeboard level exceeding the start pump level,” Britt wrote. The letter added his plan was to keep the water in the lagoon until weather conditions allowed spraying.

On Feb. 25, A.J. Linton, a representative of the farm, reported again a freeboard level of 18 inches. A report was also made earlier last week about the level after there had been rainfall.

Massengale said the farm operators had thought the soil was dry enough at the end of the week to spray. When the sprayer operator was finished, he stopped the sprayer and got off the equipment to go turn the sprayer off, she said.

STANTONSBURG — What last week seemed to be an environmental nightmare is no longer pink, but may now be “in the pink.”

Pink is the color of a waterway that got saturated with hog waste March 15 by Stantonsburg Farm, 2938 Sand Pit Road in the Stantonsburg area of Greene County.

It now appears to have a clean bill of health, visually, although lab results may not be back for a few weeks, Susan Massengale, public affairs officer for the Division of Water Quality, said.

The waterway is a tributary of Contentnea Creek, which empties into the Neuse River.

“I got a call at 1 p.m. Friday (March 15),” she said, “that there was what appeared to be hog waste in an unnamed creek adjacent to the property — and it flows into Contentnea Creek.”

R.O. Britt of the farm had called the Division on Jan. 7 reporting a high freeboard level of 18.3 inches in the farm’s primary lagoon, according to the notice of deficiency dated Jan. 9.

The freeboard level is the distance from the top of the lagoon’s waste to the rim of the lagoon. No less than 19 inches is allowed, according to the requirements of the farm’s permit and certified animal waste management plan.

“These facilities have a greater management challenge in the wintertime,” Massengale said. Those challenges include more rain and fewer plants and, therefore, fewer opportunities for spraying the effluent, or waste, over approved fields.

On Feb. 6, Britt wrote David May, aquifer protection regional supervisor with the Division, a plan of action the farm carried out, including spraying cover and wheat crops andtaking water conservation measures.

“The high freeboard level in the lagoon at the Stantonsburg Farm was the result of above average rainfall in the month of December,” Britt wrote in the letter.

He stated rainfall was 7.65 inches from mid-December to mid-January, compared to 1 inch during the same time frame a year ago.

“This influx of rain resulted in the freeboard level exceeding the start pump level,” Britt wrote. The letter added his plan was to keep the water in the lagoon until weather conditions allowed spraying.

On Feb. 25, A.J. Linton, a representative of the farm, reported again a freeboard level of 18 inches. A report was also made earlier last week about the level after there had been rainfall.

Massengale said the farm operators had thought the soil was dry enough at the end of the week to spray. When the sprayer operator was finished, he stopped the sprayer and got off the equipment to go turn the sprayer off, she said.

“And evidently it took longer than he anticipated,” Massengale said, “so it sprayed in that one area of the farm.” The effluent spilled over into the tributary.

Linton said the length of time the sprayer was running and the distance is still being investigated.

The farm operators removed the waste from the waterway and pumped it back into the lagoon, she said.

A press release from Linton said farm personnel responded quickly and professionally to prevent any further waste water from leaving the property and worked diligently to recover as much wastewater as possible from the ditch opposite the farm property.

Water quality officials rechecked the waterway Saturday.

“We took several samples,” Massengale said, “and visually we couldn’t see a pink hue.”

There are no signs of fish kill and the water looks clear, she said.

Contentnea Creek was also checked out, May said.

“Visually, there was no pink-colored waste down there,” he said.

May said hog farm operators are required to report deficiencies. If they fail to report them, they receive a notice of violation.

An area television station reported the farm as being owned by Murphy-Brown. In fact, the farm’s letters are on Murphy-Brown stationery.

But Don Butler, Murphy-Brown’s director of public affairs, said the company ceased leasing and managing Stantonsburg Farm on Dec. 31, though it continues ownership of the animals and feed.

“Murphy-Brown has never owned the property,” Butler said. Beginning in January, the farm contracted with the company to grow the animals, he said.